An Unlikely Hero
by Dragonfly-stories
Summary: "What are you doing here?" Tony asked incredulously. "What are you doing here?" She mocked him in a girlish voice, "I live here, what are you doing here?" "Live here? It's quite simple, isn't it?" He answered looking around. "So are you. Get to the point. What do you want?" She crossed her arms and squinted at him. "I need your help." "Too bad." She responded and shut the door.
1. Summary

It was early in the morning when they arrived at the bleak looking condo. Tony stopped the car and turned to look at the others in the back seat."Okay, this shouldn't take me long. I just need to hit up a friend and then we'll go find Phantom. Just stay in the car and don't touch anything." He said and he climbed out of the car.

"Does he know what he's doing?" Steve asked.

"I have no idea." Natasha whispered as the watched him climb the step to the '80's looking condo. He rung the doorbell and turned back to look at the car. When he noticed them all staring, he quickly signaled for them to cut it out. Banner huffed from the middle seat and looked out the front window." Did we have to take this car?"

"Yes, it is quite small. I have no room for my legs." Thor said from the front. He squirmed slightly in his seat, trying to get comfortable.

"Well at least you got a good seat. I'm stuck with the bitch seat between Mr. Patriotism and blo-" Natasha cut off Banner.

"Will you two shut up?" They huffed in response as Natasha watched the front door. No one had answered it for Tony yet.

"That's it, I'm getting out." Steve said and opened his door. Banner followed suit and soon Natasha was the only one still in the car. She rolled her eyes and opened her door. _So much for this being a quick trip_. She met the others on the stairs where Tony was lecturing Steve on obeying orders. Steve didn't look to please.

"I told you to stay in the car and here you are again, not listening to me. I thought we agreed on getting along. This meeting doesn't concern you all."

"I'm sorry Tony, but nothing is going to be fixed by sitting in the car-" Steve shut up the minute the front door opened.

"Jesus Christ! It's eight in the morning, why the hell are you yelling on my porch!" A young woman had answered the door and was staring at Steve with an irritated expression. She soon scanned the group and paused when he eyes landed on Tony. Her face immediately went from irritated to completely over the situation, "Oh, hell no." she said and began to shut the door.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Tony asked incredulously.

" _What are you doing here?_ " She mocked him in a girlish voice, "I live here, what are you doing here?"

"Live here? It's quite simple, isn't it?" He answered looking around.

"So are you. Get to the point. What do you want?" She crossed her arms and squinted at him.

"So feisty. I guess we can do this now. I need your help."

"Too bad." She responded and shut the door on him.


	2. Getting Home

Chapter 1

Well, that didn't go as planned. Tony could feel the weight of what just happened begin to crush him. They were gone. They were all gone. And he was gone. Right beneath Tony's hands, he just disappeared into dust. He brought his hands to his lips and let the tears fall.

It happened. Thanos won. He had gotten all the infinity ston-Vision. Another wave of guilt and pain washed over Tony. Tony dragged his hands down his face and sat on the dirt. He had no idea who else had survived the snap. He tried his hardest to think about what this could mean or what he should do now, but he couldn't. Peter's last words kept cycling through his head. Why couldn't he have just stayed home? That thought was irrational though. He wasn't killed by Thanos, he disintegrated because of the stones. That would've happened anywhere, but Tony couldn't stop blaming himself for it.

"W-what do we do now?" The blue girl asked. Tony hadn't caught her name before. She stood a few feet away from him looking around with a horrified expression plastered over her mechanical features. Tony tried to clear his throat before speaking but failed.

"I.. am not sure. We should find a ship. But… in a minute." He croaked. She nodded absent mindedly and sat next to him. The two sat in dead silence for longer than either would care to admit.

The situation back on Earth wasn't much better. Steve didn't know what to do, but then again, neither did anyone else. Tears were falling, and sobs were echoing when Natasha approached him.

"I've tried to call Tony, but I can't get a hold of him." She sat next to him and looked to the ground. Steve did reply, just sat there. Would Tony even know what to do? Did he even want Tony to know what to do? Yes, he did because he was completely stumped. He felt numb and couldn't bring himself out of it. He wanted to stay that way. At least until he found out if there was nothing they could do to reverse what Thanos did.

"We can't stay here." She said with a sad sigh. It was true, they couldn't stay here. They had brought the fight to Wakanda and now their king was gone. Steve felt a prang of guilt when he thought of T'Challa. What was going to happen to the Wakanda's people now? Would Shuri become their leader? She was just a child. It made Steve sick to think he had had a hand in ruining her childhood. Steve sighed and slowly stood from his spot and offered Natasha a hand.

"You're right. We aren't going to fix this by staying here." He offered her a small smile and helped her stand. If they were going to figure out how to do anything, they were going to need to band together.

"Where to Cap'?" She said in the normal following-the-orders tone.

"The Compound. We'll send out memos to everyone and see who shows up." He said and headed towards the wounded to see what help he could offer.

Finding a ship was the easiest thing Tony had done all day. The hard part was leaving. Between Nebula, which he finally found out, and himself, the couldn't figure out if they should take the ashes back with them or not. The decided to take a little of each. It seemed completely barbaric, but they couldn't leave them there. It didn't seem right. They deserved proper resting spots and it was the least Tony could do after everything.

He was currently sitting in the cockpit of the ship they found. It wasn't anything fancy, nothing Tony was used to, but hopefully it would get them home.

"We are all set back here." Nebula wasn't much of a talker and while that normally would've bothered Tony, he didn't mind it. The silence was comforting, and it was obvious both of them were struggling to keep it together, so Tony would settle for silence for a while. He nodded and started up the ship but didn't take off yet. He had been dreading leaving the planet since they started looking for a ship, he didn't want to leave Peter here. But Peter wasn't here. And Tony wasn't going to bring him back by just staying here. He grabbed the controls and lifted them off the planet. Nebula didn't join him in the cockpit, but he could hear her soft cries from the back of the ship.

The had been flying for a while when it became very obvious to Tony that he had no idea where he was supposed to be going. Well, he knew where he was going, but not how to get there. He placed the ship on autopilot and slowly approached Nebula. She had been silent for awhile and he could only hope that that was a good sign.

"I need you up front." He said in the calmest voice he could muster.

"Why?"

"Because copilots are convenient."

"You don't know where we are going."

"Of course, I know where we are going. I'm just not very versed in space travel." He said honestly. She huffed a light laugh and got up to help him. She sat in the pilot's seat and began steering. Tony awkwardly sat in the copilot's seat and stared out the window.

"We have to get to Earth. There are people there who can help us." He said suddenly. They hadn't discussed where they were headed so he took the opportunity to settle the issue. She scoffed.

"No one can help us against Thanos." She said sternly, not looking at him.

"These people can. Tony knew it was pointless to be so sure that the others were still alive when he just witnessed four people turn to dust, but he had to have hope. But what if they weren't alive? What if it was just him and Nebula? How would they fix this mess then? He sighed heavily and stared out the front window. Hell, maybe she was right. He didn't even know how to get back to Earth? How the hell was he supposed to figure out how to reverse what Thanos had done.

They had been flying for days when Earth finally appeared in the distance. He could feel the pressure rising in him and was sure if he was going to be able to take finding out who they lost. He couldn't bring himself to think about Pepper, that thought was just too much for him. Nebual had been completely silent for most of the ride and Tony could tell she was struggling to keep herself together. He had offered her a place to stay at the compound until she figured out what she wanted to do, and she graciously accepted. Well, she hadn't accepted. She had stayed completely quiet, but Tony took it as a yes. When they got close enough, he took her where to go and soon the compound was just a few thousand feet in front of them. There were two other Stark ships on the tarmac and Tony took that as a good sign. Maybe, just maybe, they hadn't lost too many people. He directed her where to land the ship and he quickly ran off, not waiting for her.

The air outside the ship was fresh, clean, and yet full of tension. Tony could feel his head spin as they hadn't had any food or water on this ship and he knew he would need to eat soon if he didn't want to drop dead. He ran to the door and dashed inside. His eyes first fell on Natasha. And then on Banner. He could see Thor sitting in one of the plush chairs talking with someone who had his back to Tony with what looked like a dog sitting on the couch next to him.

"Tony. Where have you been? I've been trying to reach you for days." Natasha said and came over to hug him. They had a short embrace and he opened his mouth to speak when Thor came up behind them and hugged them.

"Yes, Man of Iron, we had been waiting for you." Tony nodded and smiled at him.

"Well, I had a bit of a hold up. There is horrible signal in space." Tony quipped, but soon his expression fell. The person on the couch had stood and turned to them. Tony couldn't remember ever seeing Steve so rugged, but of course, two years in hiding would do that. Their eyes locked and Steve gave a small smile. Tony stepped away from Thor and Natasha, walking over to hug Steve when his eyes caught who, or more correctly what, was on the couch.

"Why the hell is there a racoon on the couch?"


	3. A Hundred Letters

Author's Note:

Hey Lovelies! I'm so happy that people are excited to see where this story goes! Before we get on with it I just wanted to let you guys know a few things! This story will most likely be updated on Sundays and it will not have Capitan Marvel in it. I know, I know, but I don't know a lot about her character and this story isn't meant to be a place for Avengers 4 theories (although I am happy to hear what you guys think might happen!). I want to leave her and her character development to Marvel since they will probably do a much better job at it than I ever could! With that said, all characters are property of Marvel and I do not own any of them except for my two ocs. Now on to what you all want! Chapter 2

 **Five Years Later**

There hadn't been anything they could do. After the initial assembly of the Avengers, they searched and searched for weeks to find some way to reverse what had happened, but they found nothing. Well, not nothing but it wasn't anything they could do. Finding Thanos at the moment was a lost cause and then trying to locate one infinity stone in particular would be impossible. Especially when it would most likely involve space travel and while that was something Tony could do, they wouldn't even know where to begin. Sure, Thor could've helped out, but in the beginning, he was to driven by revenge on Thanos to even see straight. And then there was Nebula, who refused to talk to anyone or even leave the compound. They had the racoon, Rocket, who Tony still wasn't sure how he felt about. Surely Rocket could've navigated once they broke the atmosphere, but he didn't seem to talk much. The only ones who seemed itching to do something were Nat, Cap, and Banner. They stayed up for hours on end trying to figure out what to do, but without more knowledge of the infinity stone, they were lost. All of them. Even Tony.

He never got over it. He assumed after some short period of time he would quit seeing Peter's face or hearing his pleas, but it was all he saw when he closed his eyes. Every single fucking time he closed his eyes, he watched Peter's wide, scared eyes fight with his instinct that something bad was happening. He had known before the others, mostly because of his heightened senses, that he was fading away. Fading away. That was the worst part in Tony's eyes. He just faded away. There was nothing left of him, but a vial of ashes that Tony had given to Aunt May. She had ben completely distraught when Tony had gone to see her after the incident. He didn't tell her lie to her about any of it though. He told her how Peter faded away a hero, that he hadn't gone down without a fight. It didn't feel right to dismiss the brave actions Peter had shown that day on the flying doughnut. He really was an Avenger that day.

Tony rubbed his eyes with the heels on his palms. He had been at his desk for hours going over contracts and other Stark Industries business and he knew he should probably head home soon. It was getting late and Pepper would start to worry if he didn't show up. It had been a relief to Tony when Pepper had stormed into the compound and slapped his right across the face. She had every right too. His only response was to hold her found a while and that was exactly what he did.

Standing from his desk, he grabbed his suit jacket and headed for the door. He left his office and passed the desk of his new assistant. That was another unfortunate result of the snap. Happy had disappeared and Tony was left to find a new assistant. He never found one he liked until Jackson had shown up. He never knew Jackson's first name, just that he had been quiet and not completely shit at his job. But he would never be Happy. None of Jackson's replacements would be Happy either. Tony found out Jackson was hiding mail from him and had terminated him on the spot. Not just any ordinary mail, not spam mail, but mail from people asking for answers. People had written Tony and the other's letters in search for answers about what had happened, some even suggested ways to fix it. Jackson hid them all over the compound and it wasn't until Rocket had stumbled upon some did Tony even find out. Four and a half years of hiding other people's mail had earned Jackson a pretty seat in federal prison. After that, Tony had the compound searched for any and all letters and he and some of the others spent hours writing back. They had been terribly sad letters, some even angry, but they still answered all of them. It seemed to be the only thing they could do.

He made his way to the other side of the compound. He had kept his office and home spaces a decent distance away from each other for Pepper's sake. It hadn't been easy on any of them and Tony knew he would only make it worse by burying himself in his work. Passing the numerous garages and living spaces, he reached the elevator that lead to the Avenger's side of the compound. He just wanted to get back to Pepper and hold her again. That was what he needed right now. The ding of the elevator signaled he was only a few minutes away from what he wanted. The metal doors opened and he stepped out to hear the tv playing and whispering from the couches. He walked over to see Steve, Rocket and Natasha sitting around the coffee table looking over closed letters. Tony ignored them and kept walking but was stopped when Rocket called out to him.

"We found more letters today.

"Good for you. Have replying to them." Tony said, almost out of the room.

"They were under the floor boards. Jack must've been really trying to hide them." The racoon continued. Tony frowned. Under the floorboards was weird, but then again hiding other people's mail for years was also weird, so it didn't really surprise him.

"Dust them off before you reply then."

"They're all addressed to you, Stark." Steve said. Tony groaned and stopped. He leaned against the wall and looked over to the group.

"How many are there?"

"A hundred, give or take a few," Natasha paused as she slowly went through a stack. Tony groaned again and turned back around.

"I'll answer them tomorrow." Tony quipped and began to walk again.

"From the same person." Natasha finished causing Tony to stop again. A hundred letters to him from the same person? He groaned loudly and turned around. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep if he didn't find out what the writer wanted. He made his way to the coffee table and took a seat on the edge of the couch. He plucked a pile of letters up and flipped through them. Each one was addressed by the same person. Elizabeth Canton. He frowned and picked up another letter. The hand writing was slightly different on each one.

"Where is the first one?" Tony asked, and Steve handed him an older looking envelope. The writing on the front was barely legible, but he could tell what it said. Elizabeth Canton. Flipping the letter over, he quickly tore it open and pulled out a single sheet of notebook paper. He frowned when he noticed the writing was practically unreadable. He gritted his teeth and read it anyway.

 _Dear Mr Stark_

 _Hello my name is Elizabeth Canton. I need your help. Please reply to this letter. I need you._

He squinted at the sheet. The grammar wasn't terrible, but it felt childish. Like a little hid had written him the letter. A little kid or someone who was just learning how to write. "Where is the next one?"

Natasha looked up to Tony and pointed to the one of the table next to him, "Why? What is it?"

Tony dropped the first letter and picked up the second. Natasha retrieved and read it while Tony opened the second one. He scanned over the letter.

 _Dear Mr Stark_

 _I'm not sure if you got my first letter. I am Elizabeth Canton. Please reply to my letters. I need your help._

 _Elizabeth_

He reached for another letter, not caring if it was the third or not and opening it.

 _Mr. Stark,_

 _It's Elizabeth again. Why won't you reply to me? I need your help. I don't know what is happening and you are the only person who can help me. I know you must get a lot of mail, but please. I'm begging you._

He sighed heavily as the confusion sunk it. The letter he just read was written by the same hand that wrote the other two and yet it was far better than the other two. And there were a hundred of these? Elizabeth had to have written him once a month at least over the last five years asking him for help and he never knew. He sighed again and set the letter down, not watching as Natasha picked it up and read over it. She looked up to him as he stood up.

"Stay here. I'll be back." He said and left the room. He needed to change and tell Pepper he was going to be working late tonight. It was going to be a long night, but he knew it was what he needed to do. It would be what Peter and Happy would want him to do. He would do it for them.


End file.
